I didn’t search the archives but I know that if Adam isn’t the only speaker with two inclusion’s in this Breakfast With TED, he is surely in good company.

I watched the video this post is about for the first time a little over 2 weeks ago. When it ended I immediately bought Adam’s book “The Promise of a Pencil.” and then found another video on YouTube where he was speaking about his organization.

That was a Friday, by the Tuesday that followed I had read the book two and a half times. OK, I actually listened to it on Audible, but that’s the same as reading isn’t it? The videos and the book spoke to me on a fundamental level, you see, I’m in the middle of creating a For-Purpose Foundation in the education space and he has done this in a spectacular way. Beyond that though, I’ve been on an self improvement journey for several years now reading at least one book a week in the area of growth and personal development. Adam isn’t just talking about and using examples with technical information I’ve been craving. He tells a story about life that everyone should hear.

Get out of your comfort zone

I’ve had some pretty great successes in my life so far I have a wonderful and supportive family, a truly fulfilling job, a little bit of wealth, and a stable and secure plan for financing and funding the rest of my life. The plan even allows me to grow that little bit of wealth while working only when I want to and on the things I want to. By this time about a year ago I had been living this comfortable life for years and had really started to get used to it.

Once a year I reexamine the plan projecting out expenses and the cost of dreams for the coming 25 years. Factoring in inflation, I put in things like buying new cars, boats, summer homes and college education for the kids. Last year I did the math realized that I had to make some small changes to my investment strategies but other than that things were good. Life was comfortable.

Comfort is good right? I took another look at it and realized we were good and getting better but we weren’t giving anything back. There was no charity in my plan. So I decided at that moment that we would give $1,000,000 over the next 10 years to the university where I work, and if we were doing that we would find one or more additional charities to give another $1,000,000 to. That changed the Math! Suddenly we were behind the curve, way behind, and I knew that I had to become uncomfortable if I had any hope of hitting my goal.

Because of this little shift, this single decision I my life was becoming uncomfortable again. I added true uncertainty to my life and it feels great. I have done more work, and I have grown more, both intellectually and spiritually, in the past 11 months than in the previous 11 years. Comfort is a thing of the past and life is truly happening now.

You can see what Adam has to say about Getting out of your comfort zone and the amazing things he has accomplished by watching the video below.